


Professionalism and Poetry

by AccioInvisibilityCloak



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Canon Characters of Color, Canon Interracial Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Prompt Fill, Season/Series 08, Secret Relationship, Set right after The Patriot in Purgatory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7569457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AccioInvisibilityCloak/pseuds/AccioInvisibilityCloak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cam is feeling down after a particularly emotionally trying case. Arastoo helps her feel better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Professionalism and Poetry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cones_McMurphy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cones_McMurphy/gifts).



> Prompt was "Cam/Arastoo, a stolen kiss", from Ann_Knightley! Enjoy!

            *******

            Cam has been feeling… off, ever since last week’s case was resolved, and Tim Murphy’s remains laid to rest, a hero. She’s so glad the team was able to give him the recognition and his family the closure they deserved. But the case brought back a lot of bad memories, a lot of brokenhearted family members and murdered innocents she can’t forget.

It just… every once in a while, it _hits_ her all over again, the magnitude of the job she does, always surrounded by pain and loss and evil. Cam knows how to keep her outward composure and professionalism, but she has never been as good at compartmentalizing her emotions as Dr. Brennan.

At least they don’t have any new murders coming in today, so far. Cam shakes her head, suppressing another wave of sorrow and exhaustion, and re-focusing on the frightening quantity of paperwork she has to get done today. She can hear some of the interns laughing out in the hall. She tries not to feel lonely.

           An hour before lunchtime, there’s a knock at her office door. Looking up, she can see Arastoo Vaziri waiting on the other side of the thick glass, and she waves him in.

“Mr. Vaziri,” she says, with a thin-lipped smile and feigned disinterest. “How can I help you this morning?”

“Cam,” Arastoo says exasperatedly, but there’s amusement in his dark eyes.

She looks down at her hands and allows herself a laugh. “I know, I know, things have changed between us. But I still think professionalism is important.” She fixes him with a steely, I’m-the-boss sort of gaze.

“Not when there’s no one else around to hear us,” Arastoo points out, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. Cam holds out a hand, stopping him short.

“No kissing at work, remember? Professionalism!” she says again, but she’s still smiling.

Arastoo sighs, wheeling a second desk chair entirely too close to hers and setting a brown paper bag down on her desk. “Fine, fine. Here, then. Fresh bagels and cream cheese for my favorite New Yorker.”

“Ah, but these are not New York bagels,” Cam says, opening the bag and taking one. “They don’t make those here, believe me. New York Bagels are heaven. D.C. bagels? Forget it, baby.”

Arastoo grins at that, and Cam finds herself blushing slightly. She can’t believe she just called him baby, even by accident. Working with Hodgins must be rubbing off on her.

               They eat silently for a little while, Cam enjoying the warm, tingly feeling of being close enough to Arastoo that their legs touch under the table, their arms brushing against each other whenever they move. They sit this close for too long, and they’ll be stealing Angela and Hodgins’ hookup spot in the Egyptology storeroom in no time.

Then she remembers the victims she’s been worrying about all morning, and feels guilty for even thinking such a lewd thought when she should be respecting their memory.

“You’re quiet this morning,” Arastoo says, just as Cam blurts out, “How do you deal with it?”

“Deal with what?” he asks curiously. Cam sighs.

“I know I’ve been in this job a lot longer than you- no offense- but sometimes… cases like the one we just solved, they get to me. The unfairness of it all, the evil- I’m wondering how you deal with having to see so much of that every day. I usually just power through, knowing I’ve done everything I can for every person I cut into. But I could always use a backup plan, and it helps to hear how other people cope, so I was wondering…” she trails off. “Never mind.”

“No, it’s fine,” Arastoo says. “I write.”

“You-”

“I write. I’ve told you about my poetry, that’s how I cope. Focusing on the good things, the beautiful things in my life, and putting that down on paper… it helps me. Just like Angela turns to her painting, finding solace and beauty in her art, I go home at the end of the day, and I take out my notebook and write, and then, when it’s time, I pray. Until the ugliness of the day is just gone, and all there is left, is peace.” He reaches out and lays a hand over hers, and she nods.

“That’s wonderful.Thank you for telling me,” she murmurs, and he nods. 

“By the way, how is it going with that publisher you were meeting with? Any news?” Cam asks.

“Well, actually…” Arastoo trails off, drawing out the suspense. Cam gives him a Look, and he relents. “We cut a deal. It’s official, I’m a published poet. Well, I will be, early next fall, but they’re sending me advanced proof copies in two weeks, so… hey!” he exclaims happily, as Cam leans over, pulls him close and kisses him, full on the lips.

“What happened to no kissing at work?” he teases when she pulls away.

“I’m just so proud of you, Mr. Vaziri! And everyone’s probably out to lunch by now anyway,” Cam says. “We can kiss, just this once. But if they ask, you were never here, got it?”

“You drive a hard bargain, Dr. Saroyan,” Arastoo concedes, kissing her again.

*******


End file.
